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Gay marriage support hits new high in Post-ABC poll

Public support for gay marriage has hit a new high as Americans
increasingly see homosexuality not as a choice but as a way some people
are, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

The poll shows that 58 percent of Americans now believe it should be
legal for gay and lesbian couples to get married; 36 percent say it
should be illegal. Public attitudes toward gay marriage are a mirror
image of what they were a decade ago: in 2003, 37 percent favored gay
nuptials, and 55 percent opposed them.

The Supreme Court takes up the issue of gay marriage next week, and
nearly two-thirds of all Americans say the matter should be decided for
all states on the basis of the U.S. Constitution, not with each state
making its own laws.

Among young adults age 18 to 29, support for gay marriage is
overwhelming, hitting a record high of 81 percent in the new poll.
Support has also been increasing among older adults, but those aged 65
years old and up remain opposed, on balance: 44 percent say same-sex
marriage should be legal; 50 percent say illegal.

A slim majority of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents under 50
years old now support gay marriage. Nearly seven in 10 of those aged 65
and up oppose it, although that is down from more than eight in 10 just
four years ago.

There has been a related movement in public opinion about
homosexuality. Fully 62 percent of Americans now say being gay is just
the way some people are, not something people choose to be. About 20
years ago, fewer than half of the public said so.

In the current data, about three-quarters of those who do not see
homosexuality as a choice support gay marriage, with most supporting it
“strongly.” More than two-thirds of those who see it as a choice oppose
gay marriage, with almost all intensely against it.

Currently, gay marriage is legal in only nine states and the District
of Columbia, but public views are more similar than not across state
lines. In the states that allow gay marriage, 68 percent say such
same-sex marriages should be legal, but so too do 56 percent of those in
states where the practice is not legal.

Intensity on the matter is, however, different in those states. In
places where gay marriage is legal, 52 percent feel strongly that it
should be. That falls to 39 percent feeling strongly that it should be
legal in states where it currently is not.

The Washington Post-ABC News poll was conducted March 7 to 10, among a
random national sample of 1,001 adults. The margin of sampling error
for the full survey is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

Click here for interactive poll results and complete question wording. Complete trends over time are available here.

Cohen is director of polling at Capital Insight,
the independent polling group of Washington Post Media. Pollsters
Peyton M. Craighill and Scott Clement contributed to this report.

Among young adults age 18 to 29, support for gay marriage is
overwhelming, hitting a record high of 81 percent in the new poll.
Support has also been increasing among older adults, but those aged 65
years old and up remain opposed, on balance: 44 percent say same-sex
marriage should be legal; 50 percent say illegal.

My sixteen year old and her peers see gay marriage as a no-brainer and find those who oppose it absurd.

Quoting Momniscient:

Among young adults age 18 to 29, support for gay marriage is overwhelming, hitting a record high of 81 percent in the new poll. Support has also been increasing among older adults, but those aged 65 years old and up remain opposed, on balance: 44 percent say same-sex marriage should be legal; 50 percent say illegal.

Yeah. The younger generation will be the ones to ensure that it gets voted in...

Quoting Kate_Momof3:

My sixteen year old and her peers see gay marriage as a no-brainer and find those who oppose it absurd.

Quoting Momniscient:

Among young adults age 18 to 29, support for gay marriage is overwhelming, hitting a record high of 81 percent in the new poll. Support has also been increasing among older adults, but those aged 65 years old and up remain opposed, on balance: 44 percent say same-sex marriage should be legal; 50 percent say illegal.

My sixteen year old and her peers see gay marriage as a no-brainer and find those who oppose it absurd.

Quoting Momniscient:

Among young adults age 18 to 29, support for gay marriage is overwhelming, hitting a record high of 81 percent in the new poll. Support has also been increasing among older adults, but those aged 65 years old and up remain opposed, on balance: 44 percent say same-sex marriage should be legal; 50 percent say illegal.

Yeah. The younger generation will be the ones to ensure that it gets voted in...

Quoting Kate_Momof3:

My sixteen year old and her peers see gay marriage as a no-brainer and find those who oppose it absurd.

Quoting Momniscient:

Among young adults age 18 to 29, support for gay marriage is overwhelming, hitting a record high of 81 percent in the new poll. Support has also been increasing among older adults, but those aged 65 years old and up remain opposed, on balance: 44 percent say same-sex marriage should be legal; 50 percent say illegal.

It is because we have piss poor parents raising their children with no morals or values. Pure Disgusting!!

My mother was not piss poor. She doesn't feel like it's her business what other people do. My mother is a Christian woman with good values and morals. She raised me the correct way. Not to discriminate against anyone. I can't wait until people like you die off and there's not question on whether or not gays will have their RIGHT to get married. It WILL be in the near future, like it or not. So get ready.

Quoting NC_Mom_06:

Quoting Momniscient:

Yeah. The younger generation will be the ones to ensure that it gets voted in...

Quoting Kate_Momof3:

My sixteen year old and her peers see gay marriage as a no-brainer and find those who oppose it absurd.

Quoting Momniscient:

Among young adults age 18 to 29, support for gay marriage is overwhelming, hitting a record high of 81 percent in the new poll. Support has also been increasing among older adults, but those aged 65 years old and up remain opposed, on balance: 44 percent say same-sex marriage should be legal; 50 percent say illegal.

It is because we have piss poor parents raising their children with no morals or values. Pure Disgusting!!

Yeah. The younger generation will be the ones to ensure that it gets voted in...

Quoting Kate_Momof3:

My sixteen year old and her peers see gay marriage as a no-brainer and find those who oppose it absurd.

Quoting Momniscient:

Among young adults age 18 to 29, support for gay marriage is overwhelming, hitting a record high of 81 percent in the new poll. Support has also been increasing among older adults, but those aged 65 years old and up remain opposed, on balance: 44 percent say same-sex marriage should be legal; 50 percent say illegal.

It is because we have piss poor parents raising their children with no morals or values. Pure Disgusting!!

Send me email updates about messages I've received on the site and the latest news from The CafeMom Team.
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